Lady Lions gain valuable experience
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lady Lion softball team won only one out of six tournament games last week in Eastland, but they gained much-needed experience that was even more important than a string of wins, according to coach Jimmy Fuentes.
Albany played a rematch with Cooper High School’s JV on Tuesday in Abilene, posting a 13-8 loss. Details will be reported next week.
The Lady Lions will travel to Clifton on Friday and Saturday for the final tournament action of the season, followed by the opening of district play on Tuesday, March 9 when Albany hosts Gorman.
Fuentes was glad to see the team get in six tournament games last week despite the losses.
“We were one of the smallest schools in the tournament as we are every year, so our concentration wasn’t so much about what was on the scoreboard but to get in some much-needed work,” Fuentes said. “The recent weather was a setback, so it was good to get back on the field.”
The coach said he and the girls learned from the tournament.
“Our goal for right now is to find out where to position each of our players and to get them some valuable reps,” he said. “We start district next week and the tournament helped get us ready for that.”
Albany lost to Springtown 7-3 and Waco Midway’s JV 6-5 on the first day.
The Lady Lions returned on Friday, suffering a 12-1 loss to Decatur. Robin Lucas scored the lone run and had one hit, while Torie Fuentes got two hits, including one for an RBI. Sarah Smith pitched the game, allowing 12 runs on 12 hits and three walks. She struck out one batter.
In the second game on Friday, the Lady Lions lost to Krum, 13-0, in a no-hitter. Smith pitched all but one out of the game, allowing 12 runs on nine hits and nine walks. She had one strikeout. Isabel Alvarez allowed one run on one hit.
The Lady Lions played the hosting Eastland team on Saturday, falling 6-3. Blanton Belcher had one hit for two RBIs and Haily Cox had one hit and one run. Smith pitched all three innings, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks. She struck out two at the plate.
Albany got the win against DeLeon, 4-3, in the final game of the tourney. Cox had two hits and two RBIs, while Smith had two hits and Torie Fuentes had one. Alvarez had one RBI. Smith pitched one inning, allowing three runs on five walks and three errors, with Alvarez pitching three frames with only one hit, no runs and six strikeouts.
